5 Things We Learned from Lena Waithe on The Breakfast Club

Source: Power 105 / Power 105

Lena Waithe’s road to stardom and recognition has been a long time coming and well deserved. After spending years as a writer for TV and cable series Waithe’s celebrity began to ascend when she was cast as fan favorite character Denise on the Netflix series Master of None and now pens the critically acclaimed Showtime series The Chi.

Today the 2017 Out artist of the Year swung through The Breakfast Club to talk about the importance of being an activist, why she feels she’s the public’s property, and how she stays humble.

Here are the 5 things we learned from Lena Waithe on The Breakfast Club.

https://twitter.com/LenaWaithe/status/979747905589268482

1. Being Me

Lena admits that she’d been wanting to cut her hair off for a minute but held back because she was self conscious about what other people would think. As soon as she realized she was basically living to keep other people comfortable with her presence she went through with it and says she feels “free” and “joy.”

https://twitter.com/LenaWaithe/status/976971539810783232

2. Community Love

After police in Chicago tried to lure unsuspecting Black kids into a trap with the unattended sneaker truck, Waithe says that Vic Mensa and the cast of The Chi came through and blessed kids with free sneakers to combat that race bait that po-9 threw up in Chicago.

https://twitter.com/LenaWaithe/status/970485416099946496

3. Spread Love

The Chi writer recognizes that her celebrity makes her “a property of the public” and feels a responsibility to make sure she shows love to anyone who crosses her path and daps her up.

https://twitter.com/LenaWaithe/status/970457816178638848

4. Love

Interestingly enough Lena says she’s not throwing a huge wedding because “a lot of my life is produced” and she doesn’t want to do another huge production in her real life. Luckily her fiancé doesn’t want a big celebration either and actually helps keep Lena down to earth and humble.

https://twitter.com/LenaWaithe/status/954786061296664576

5. The Artist/Activist

While her star is continuously rising in the Hollywood universe, Lena admits that she can’t be an artist without also being an activist and utilizing her voice for those that don’t have one. That’s why she constantly aims to create “protest art” with her work. This is why we love her.